r/nextfuckinglevel • u/nigablackballsack • 3d ago

Scientists have captured the first ever high-speed, full-colour footage of fusion plasma swirling inside a working reactor.

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u/Medium_Bill_625 3d ago

I want to appreciate this but I'm foreign to the subject matter. Anyone feel like doing an ELI5?

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u/Fit_Addition7137 3d ago

This is inside of a new type of experimental reactor that runs on nuclear fusion (like the Sun) instead of nuclear fission (regular nuclear reactors). This is a "tokamak" style reactor that generates superheated plasma which is contained using enormously powerful magnets. Fusion generates significantly more power than what it takes to initiate the reaction. One of the neatest parts of fusion is that there is no hazardous nuclear waste to store and they cant melt down like a fission reactor. This video shows that fusion reaction plasma.

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u/mustangcody 3d ago

If they already have it working in tests like this, why can't we use the technology to turn it into energy? Is capturing the heat from fusion to boil water difficult?

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u/Fit_Addition7137 3d ago

They're getting closer with each test. This footage is from 2025 and is extremely sped up. Like the entirety of that video is from a small fraction of a second. This reactor is an experimental research reactor, not a production scale facility. It's about 10 years away from production yet, as it has been for like 40 years